Article by Autumn Siebold

If you’re halfway through your Ph.D. but haven’t decided what to do when you graduate, you’re not alone.

“I didn’t know what career path I wanted to take yet, and I wanted to explore some more options,” said Myela Paige, a fourth-year Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. “The career exploration group ended up being a great way to find more careers and discover things I wouldn’t have known I was otherwise interested in.”

Clarence Anthony Jr., the assistant director of Graduate Career Development, created the Ph.D. Career Exploration Group for graduate students to explore their career plans. The first group met once a week for an hour for three weeks to talk about their career interests. During the sessions, they considered their skills and explored where their majors could take them after graduation.

“The group offers Georgia Tech Ph.D. students a chance to explore becoming professors and postdoctoral fellows, or nonacademic options like research and development, management consulting, technical consulting, or data science,” Anthony said. “They have a chance to explore their options, while also receiving support and feedback.”

This opportunity is open to Ph.D. students from any year or major, and offers a confidential space to talk through your career plans.

“We did a lot of activities to help us slow down, figure out our priorities, and figure out what we wanted to do going forward,” said Benjamin Bray, a third-year Ph.D. in Computer Science. “For example, one of the activities that was most helpful to me was building a mind map of my interests to figure out some new paths I could take.”

This semester, students can sign up for the next Ph.D. Career Exploration group, which will meet Feb. 27, March 5, and March 12. Check out this link to sign up and complete the pre-assessment survey. The deadline to apply is Feb. 21.  

For more information on this and other career resources, visit the C2D2 website.